17 June 2015

India’s biggest drinkers

And they’re not from Kerala

As Kerala takes the first steps towards prohibition, here’s a question: is Kerala really India’s biggest drinker? The media sure seems to think so; here’s the Times of India, saying so today (but giving no source), The Indian Expresssaid it in 2008 but the source study is nowhere on the internet and the Economist said so in 2013citing a Kerala-based advocacy group director. Various other reports cite Kerala’s 2008 Economic Review but this isn’t available online either.

For us, the go-to place for consumption data still is India’s National Sample Survey Office. The NSSO has some well-documented drawbacks, and most likely underestimates consumption at the higher end of the income spectrum. But it’s still the most geographically and economically representative dataset in the country. (All the graphics in this post are by Vivekanandan M.)

The NSSO’s 2011-12 consumption data splits per capita weekly consumption of alcohol into four categories – toddy, country liquor, beer and foreign/ refined liquor or wine. The average rural Indian drinks 220 ml across types of alcohol in a week, or 11.4 litres in a year. Toddy is the most popular drink for rural India followed by country liquor. The average urban Indian, meanwhile, drinks 96 ml per week or 5 litres in a year, country liquor being most popular.

So how do the states compare? The biggest toddy and country liquor-drinking states are Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Arunachal Pradesh and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Small states and Union Territories are most likely to have sampling errors, so let’s look at the bigger states. Andhra Pradesh tops the bigger states, followed by Assam, Jharkhand and Bihar.